Thank you to the many organizations listed below for your continued support in our vision of
Ecological Wellness
Restorative & Regenerative Land Practices

Nicola Thomas
GRFF Founder, P.D.C. Community Capacity Builder
Permaculture A Quiet Revolution
Agroforestry
Organizing & Activism Support
-
Confronting Oppression (gender, age etc.)
-
Solutions-Based Strategies, Communication Skills, Conflict Resolution
-
Administrative Support; Media Campaigns (access dependency)
-
Community Connection, Collaboration & capacity Building
-
Effective Networking & Securing Funding
-
Personal Resilience Practices to prevent and recover from burnout
-
Social permaculture for nurturing effective groups (harvesting, cooking etc.)
Look for opportunities
-
City climate change policies, Land development, Underutilized green spaces, Become a Bee City, Urban Forestry Department
Children, education, involve
-
Local community, church or school
-
Inspire, motivate and support ambassadors

We're pleased to welcome Nicola Thomas of Grand River Food Forestry to our Keynote Panel on sustainability, climate action and the role of co-operatives in visioning our future. Nicola brings a wealth of knowledge in permaculture, social justice and bringing community together to share in creating better food security in an urban setting. Don't miss her workshop on the second day,
Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution!

Hosted by the Horticultural Societies of Parkdale & Toronto
Ecological Wellness through Restorative Urban Agriculture: A Sustainable Vision for the Future
— with Nicola Thomas
Permaculture can be an important tool for the creation of socially-just and ecologically regenerative urban commons. In this talk, Nicola Thomas, will explore the transformational possibilities of urban permaculture with a focus on: "How we can be the change to an ecologically sustainable future!" - what is the recipe, components, ideal partners, and motivation?
Growing The Local Food Movement
Food is essential and universal, growing food in public space can be a wonderful means of community-building, but how do we make sustainable models for community gardens and urban agriculture that retain knowledgeable and engaged members, have long-term access to land, and that can pay their bills?
Nicola Thomas, Founder of Grand River Food Forestry
Olivia Michalczuk Environment and Open Spaces Coordinator, NA.
Angela ElzingaCheng Executive Director, Greenest City
Kolade Boboye and Craig Cain Social Innovation Coordinators, Hope Blooms
Mitigating Climate Change Through Food Forestry
Nicola Thomas (video conference)
Planting Trees, Afforestation;
The Solution to Earth's Environmental Dilemma
Julia Adamson
Saskatchewan Native Prairie Inventory;
An Estimation of Remaining Grasslands
Joanne Marchand (Chair) & Teal Fisher
Symposium
Mtl - 2019
How does Integrating Trees into agricultural systems benefit soil health and soil carbon sequestration? What are the barriers to adoption of agroforestry in Canada and how could we promote this practice more widely?
Alain Oliver (Host), Professor of Agroforestry Universite Laval
Nicola Thomas, Founder of Grand River Food Forestry
Harry Greene, Co-founder and director of Farm Development, Propagate Ventures
Andrew Gordon, Professor esearcher , School of Environmental Science, Guelph University
Thanks Jeff Hager for being an awesome host
and having us on your show

Authors June Komisar & Joe Nasr of
Carrot City: Creating Places for Urban Agriculture
signed & kindly gifted to GRFF.
Vancouver, British Columbia
Calgary, Alberta. 2017

Dave Harvey,
Founder & Executive Director of
Park People.
Canada’s leading city park transformation organization.
GRFF & The Black Farmers Collective were amongst The 100 Heart of the City National Delegates 2016
Water is Life
Toronto, ON. 2017
Permaculturist - Agroecology
CIBWE Award
Toronto, ON. 2016
Permaculturist - Agroecology
Cibwe award winner for 2015
Celina Caesar-Chavannes MP is a Canadian Liberal politician, who served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister from 2015 to 2017 in addition to the 2007 Black Business & Professional Association’s Harry Jerome Young Entrepreneur Award.

